100 Acre Wood Club Rally

100 Acre Wood National Club Rally
Feb 25-26, 2003
Salem, MO

Pre-Race: Outside of a punctured tire, bent rim and tweaked fender, the car needed nothing for the next rally. This would be the second year this event would decide the National ClubRally Championships. Because I finished 2nd in PGT within the Division, I was invited to compete. I gathered up every possible tire (Pirelli, Michelin, Kumho, Bridgestone) and mounted them to every spare wheel I had. February in the lower Midwest could bring any kind of weather. We came in 2nd last year and hoped to complete the win this year. The National Runoffs would be 2 day event with each day being a separate ClubRally that I could later use for points toward the Divisional Championship.

Thursday: A long 12 hours later brought us to the beautiful roads and countryside of the Ozarks. Weather was warm and the town of Salem was very hospitable. The locals seem to really enjoy this event.

Friday: We register and pass tech inspection early Saturday and get to the Parc Expose in downtown Salem. Numerous locals came to have pictures taken and autographs (??) signed by the drivers. Everybody was excited as this was going to be a 2 day event. We also find out, due to our success at last month's Sno Drift Rally, that we are "promoted" to Seed 3 which will give us a better start position from now on.

Stage 1: The stages are very different from what I remember last year. One the strangest stages I have ever been on. The surface was soft with a fair amount of grip. However, it was very narrow with small stumps at the edge of the road waiting to rip a corner of the car off. This road was simply too narrow to effectively drift the car through the corners. I couldn't wait until we passed the Finish board.

Stage 2: Another strange stage. Narrow with a wet surface. Again, not much room to move the car around. Not to mention half the stage had a sheer 60 ft drop off on the left side. The organizers were so concerned about this stage they had an ambulance permanently stationed at the bottom of the cliff in case one of the competitors took a "shortcut" off the stage.

Service: While Bob runs off to see our times, I ponder the rally so far. Last year this event had my most favorite roads I have ever driven on. So far however, these new roads were anything but enjoyable. I was dreading the rest of the rally at
this point. Bob confirms my frustrations in our stage times...we are running 3rd in class. I just hope the roads get back to being fast and wide again before the rally is over. We mount the lights and have some dinner.

Stage 3: This stage feels a bit better...a little more to what I expected. Unfortunately approximately halfway through the stage, we see a very large rock has been kicked up an is sitting in the middle of the road. We are going too fast to avoid it so we hit it dead center and launch my DSM up in the air a couple feet. The car keeps going but it is much louder. Damn!Similar to last year I must have broken my exhaust.

Stage 4: Before the stage we survey the damage...everything behind the down pipe including the catalytic converter is gone...most likely left on the stage. This stage is a repeat of Stage 1...the one I don't care for. The power loss low in the RPM is noticeable due to the unrestricted exhaust. Unfortunately anything gained in the upper RPM is nullified due to the mandated 32 mm restrictor on the turbo. We put our heads down and simply finish the best we can.

Stage 5: This is a fast but short stage that brings us back to the center of town. There is a large "hay bail" chicane in the middle of the longest straight in order to slow us down for the water bridge where there are hundreds of spectators.

Friday finish: So far this rally is not working the way I had hoped. We ended up 4th in class and 16th overall. My tire choice tonight was horrible (I mounted the Pirellis when I should have ran the Kumhos). I spend some time with the other racers and locals before we all go to bed for a long day tomorrow.

Saturday: We awake to even warmer weather and temps in the 60's. An overnight rain has left the roads damp but not muddy or slippy. I cannot find a replacement exhaust for the DSM so we reside to racing with the open downpipe. Due to the damp
conditions I decide to run the Kumhos again. I am hoping today's roads are more of what I remember from last year.

Stage 1: Ahhhh...these are the roads I remember. Fast, flowing and wide. I keep the RPMs as high as possible throughout the stage and try to start the day with the lead.

Stage 2: Another familiar stage. Last year I tore my front bumper cover off on the water crossing here.

Stage 3: We pass a couple cars that are off the road...at these speeds even small mistakes can have big consequences. I keep driving as hard as I can, trying to negate the power loss due to our missing exhaust.

Service: The next two stages are very fast tarmac stages so we mount my Bridgestone 730's (borrowed from my Conquest) on the DSM and grab some lunch. According to Bob we are running about 3rd in class right now.

Stage 4: The fastest tarmac stage I have ever driven. There is a section that winds under a bridge where hundreds of spectators set up camp. I believe we achieved 140 mph on this stage but it was difficult to see the speedo clearly due to so much vibration at that speed . Unforgettable stage.

Stage 5: A shorter tarmac stage. I really enjoy the grip I get from the AWD on tarmac but the car is set up to rotate on gravel...cornering is a bit more difficult with the current setup. Damper setting and tire pressures were all a guess.

Service: An opportunity to swap out the tarmac for gravel tires again. We mount the Kumho tires and rally lights. We belly up to an excellent dinner offered by the local elementary school.

Stage 6: It is immediately apparent I made the wrong tire choice. Fast as these roads are, they are also very abrasive. My Kumhos have lost their edge and their grip. I feel like I am on skis on many sections of this stage.

Stage 7: I lower the tire pressures trying anything to gain more grip. Toward the end of the stage I suddenly hear an exceptionally loud squealing coming from the rear...so loud in fact Bob appears concerned. I tell him to ignore it and we push on. Now I am starting to smell something burning from the right rear of the car. I am in "all or nothing' mode so I
keep pushing hoping its not a brake line. Surprisingly, I feel nothing unusual from that end of the car. About a mile from the end of the stage the noise and smell go away. On the transit to the next stage I investigate what happened. Apparently a rock was stuck between the caliper and wheel. A deep groove was ground into the wheel...luckily for us the rock ground away enough to simply fall out. I cross my fingers hoping the wheel won't separate before the end of the rally.

Stage 8: Bob has had to yell so loud over the exhaust (or lack thereof) during the weekend that he his now hoarse and I can barely him call the notes. It looks like a win is almost impossible but we cannot give up. We and the car are both very tired and can't wait until the finish. About two miles from the end of the stage we pass the leading PGT car on the side of the road with smoke under the hood. Bad news for him...good news for me.

Saturday finish: We finish the stage and transit back to Time Control. We finished the Nationals! Bob returns with the results: 2nd in class and 17th overall. This translates to 2nd in the National ClubRally PGT Championship! This rally will also help us with our Divisional Points standings at the end of the year.
Meet and greet alot of old and new friends and bench race until the wee hours of the morning. I make a list of items I have to fix (again) and we start on our long tow home Sunday morning. We get a 2 month break before the Headwaters ClubRally in May.


Disclaimer: The exact order and/or number of stages may not be entirely accurate as I am generating this recap entirely from memory. I am conferring my strongest memories from each event. Everything recorded is true...just not necessarily in the correct order

Attached Images